by Helen Jones

Thursday Doors – Shakespeare’s Birthplace, Stratford-Upon-Avon

This lovely door with wisteria crown belongs to one of the buildings at Shakespeare’s birthplace, Straford-Upon-Avon. There are several sixteenth century buildings on the site, including the main house where Shakespeare was born and grew up – he even spent the first five years of his marriage to Ann Hathaway there, the couple living with his parents.

During his lifetime, Shakespeare leased out part of the property and it became an inn called The Maidenhead(!). Upon his death, the house passed to his daughter, Susanna, and it stayed in the family until 1847 when it was purchased by The National Trust, who continue to manage the house today.

The house and surrounding buildings have been restored to how they would have been during Shakespeare’s lifetime (except for the gift shop on the ground floor, of course). It’s a fascinating place to visit, and an insight into how wealthy families lived in the sixteenth century.

The photos are from two different visits, but they were both around the same time of year. I grew up not too far from there, in Coventry, and now it’s about an hour and a half away – I’m sure I’ll be back there again too. It’s a lovely town, isn’t it? 🙂

It is … and that’s from someone raised in Devon. I live in a village clinging to it’s identity close to High Wycombe and if it wasn’t for the trees and a few houses I’d see the Thames from Wooburn Green to Marlow.

I’ve a few hours writing to do … or miss a deadline I can’t afford to … my excuse for my mistake … the view would be Bourne End to Marlow , the river dosn’t flow through Wooborn Green, mind you I’d need a chain saw and steel swing ball to see the water, wouldn’t go down well around here. Good night Helen. Eric.

Yes, I commented the same thing to Norm, that wealth then bought quite a different level of comfort than wealth today. The house is lovely inside, but I don’t know how comfortable it would have been. And the bit about how they had a canopied bed to stop bugs dropping down from above was a bit off-putting, to say the least!

It looks so pretty! I remember reading Shakespeare in middle school and being very into it. Looks like this should be one of my “must visit” places. It’s remarkable that the house stayed in the family for as long as it did before being sold.

Isn’t it the truth? I think that’s what’s wrong with us now. It’s not a bad thing to desire certain things, but I think we strive for it so much that we end up burned out, and forgetting about what really matters.